A Pale Girls Guide To Fake Tan

Okay pale girls, its summer and I’m personally not someone who tans naturally in the sun, so to save blinding people with my reflective white legs – I turn to a little fake tan. Just a reminder – fake tan doesn’t usually have SPF to be sure to protect yourself with some sun cream too!

Prep is key to making sure your fake tan goes on well, so I always make sure to exfoliate properly before I even go near my body with fake tan! I also make sure to keep up with plenty moisturiser a few days before to make sure I don’t have any dry patches that the tan might stick to. My favourite for a good body scrub right now is The Body Shop Coconut Body Scrub, because it smells amazing and it removes any dead skin without making me feel like I’ve removed half of my legs in the shower. I’ve also been rating the Palmers Tummy Butter as a moisturiser, its actually for stretch marks but its very hydrating and when I apply it daily when I’ve got tan on my tan lasts really well and doesn’t fade in patches! I’ve been trialing a few different tans over the last little while so I could make this post as helpful as I could, some were definitely better than others! Starting with my favourites, I really like the Bondi Sands Liquid Gold. Its a dry oil that I can blend in all over my body and it rarely streaks. It doesn’t have a tanning guide but because its an oil it doesn’t take much to work this into the skin. Its very hydrating and doesn’t have that horrible ‘biscuit’ smell than a lot of fake tans have. I usually apply it at night and rinse it off in the morning and I wake up feeling very bronzed and fresh. Its a good colour for my pale skin too, theres definitely no tinge of orange! Another favourite is the Soap & Glory Sunkissed Tint Body Lotion, its a wash off formula but if you want something quick that’s going to give you a bit of colour this is definitely the product to reach for. Its super hydrating, smells great and drys into the skin quickly meaning you can get dressed and be on the go within minutes. I usually apply it with a mitt and it goes on really easily with no fuss. I also like to use it if I’ve accidentally ended up patchy as it evens everything out very well. Another favourite is the Garnier Dry Body Mist, I like the light colour as when you apply it daily it builds up into a nice colour quite quickly. As its a spray its really easy to apply and it never ends up streaky. It does cling to dry patches quite a bit so moisturising in between is a definite recommendation. One I’m on the shelf about is the Vita Liberata 10 Minute Tan, I liked the idea of this because you don’t need to leave it on for hours to let it work but I left this on for a good 15-20 minutes and its meant to develop over 4-6 hours. I applied this in the morning, and I found it super difficult to blend into the skin and it had a really horrible smell! After washing it off, I looked no different but my skin felt super soft. After the 6 hours a tan had developed but it was incredibly subtle. I must say the colour was really nice and my skin felt great but I really expected more from something with such a high price tag. I definitely need to try this out more, but being honest the only thing I think this would be good for when your tan is fading and you need it to last a little longer. One product I really didn’t get along with was the Bondi Sands Self Tanning Mist. This stuff has a disgusting smell, and when I sprayed it on I looked green! I used it while standing in the bath so as not to get this all over my house but it literally was everywhere. I had to bleach my entire bathroom after using this because there was a horrible sticky green-brown layer over the whole room that didn’t want to wash away! The worst part, I left it on as per the instructions, washed it off as directed and no tan has ever developed onto my skin! So I’m very confused. I also used nearly the entire can just for one application so it doesn’t seem very cost effective!